July 12-15 2019 - Arco ID & Craters of the Moon National Monument

Our visit to Arco and the Craters of the Moon National Monument

 

From Fort Running Bear RV Resort in Mountain Home, we moved on to Arco (still in Idaho), a small town of just 919 residents, but with a rich history, including having the proud distinction of being ‘The First City (town) in the World to be Lit entirely by Atomic Energy’ (July 17, 1955).

The story behind this distinction is more complex, but in short goes like this...
In the fall of 1954 the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) learned that the Soviet Union was planning to participate for the first time in the annual International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference on nuclear energy. Up until that time, both the US and the Soviet Union sent scientists and engineers to the conference, but neither actually participated or presented papers. The US AEC did not want the Soviets to gain propaganda points, so the leaders of the Commission determined that they needed to show that they were working on civilian (non-warfare) applications for nuclear energy. That was especially true and necessary in light of the ‘Atoms For Peace’ speech that President Eisenhower gave to the UN General Assembly on December 8, 1953.
 
The only problem was that the US AEC’s first reactor, designed for electrical power production – the ‘Shippingport’ Atomic Power Station (in Pennsylvania) – would not be ready in time to present it as a completed action at the conference. Actually, it would not be commissioned until May 26, 1958. So the AEC turned to a small team at the National Reactor Testing Station (located in Idaho Falls, ID) who had just begun actually operating a small, ‘boiling water’ reactor that could produce steam at a high-enough pressure to turn a turbine and produce enough power to supply a nearby small town. Their project actually started in 1950 and by December 20, 1951 they had already established for the first time the viability of the 'Breeder reactor' concept to produce working electricity by illuminating four (4) light bulbs powered entirrely by the EBR-1 reactor.  

Later, the team cobbled together enough new and left over components to turn an experimental reactor into a power station and then used a nearby feeder line to actually send the power produced to the closest town... named Arco, in Idaho. As is the case with most good stories, there were some bumps in the road that needed some creative solutions, but in essence the experiment was shown to be a success, as the entire city’s street lights were powered totally by atomic energy from the EBR-1/BORAX III reactor . which was followed on a grander scale, by the Shippingport reactor in Beaver Valley, PA in 1958. On June 26, 1954 at Obninsk, Russia, their nuclear plant APS-1with a net electrical output of 5MW was also connected to the power grid. On August 27, 1956, the British were to follow with their first nuclear commercial power plant, the Calder Hall 1, with a net electrical output of 50MW connected to the national grid. However, the US was the first, right here in Arco, Idaho.

Arco, Idaho (Butte County, pop. 995, elev. 3525)
While in Arco we stayed at the Mountain View RV Park, a small, privately owned, well shaded and very nicely maintained campground. We planned a 3-day-long stay at Arco so as to be able to visit the Craters of the Moon National Monument. By comparison to our previous campground at Fort Running Bear, Mountain View RV Campground and Restaurant was a welcome difference.  The restaurant is small and expensive, but offers excellent home cooking, with BBQ Ribs to die for. It is smaller but it is both in-town and on non-dusty roads, a plus from our last campground at Fort Running Bear. Unfortunately this campground does not allow washing one’s RV either, so Bill had to clean the truck with our Spray, Polish & Buff Dual Polymer ‘Waterless’ system that we distribute, and we will have to wait until getting to Star Valley Ranch RV Resort near Thayne, Wyoming to clean the RV. 

We enjoyed seeing historic old buildings around Arco, as well as historic sites related to the peaceful development of atomic energy – the Atoms for Peace program. Other sights to see in Arco include the USS Hawkbill (SSN-666), (Devilfish) nuclear submarine science center, submarine war memorial, and Number Hill – a craggy hill where generations of high school classes have painted their graduation year on the rock outcroppings (seen on photo from our campsite).

  

 



Day-trip to Craters of the Moon National Monument
We took a driving trip to nearby Craters of the Moon National Monument. The Craters of the Moon is an area of starkly beautiful volcanic formations – jagged black lava flows, cinder cones, spatter cones and other formations formed by recent eruptions as early as only 2,000 years ago and up to 14,000 years ago. The monument and surrounding area have sweeping vistas of sage-brush covered lava wasteland and snow-capped mountain peaks of the Lost River, Boulder and Sawtooth mountain ranges to the north and northwest. Most of the Craters of the Moon is however was not formed from direct eruption of a particular volcano, but rather from the underground lava flows which have ruptured through the earth’s crust through fissures in what is known as the “Great Rift of Idaho” where the lava has spewed out creating these rocky lava flows.

The Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in the Snake River Plain, was established in May 1924, and  is located on US20/93/26, between Arco and Carey, Idaho, at an elevation of 5,900ft. It represents one of the best-preserved flood basalt areas in the continental US and it receives about 250,000 visitors annually. It was created in 1924, but expanded in area in 2000 by President Clinton, and in 2002 it was officially named ‘Craters of the Moon’ by the National Park Service. It covers an area of 400 square miles of sagebrush stepped grasslands to cover a total area of 1,117 square miles. The monument alone covers 53,571 square miles.  All three major lava fields lie along the Great Rift of Idaho, with some of the best examples of ‘open rift cracks’ in the world. Given the vast wasteland it is easy to imagine why this area was selected as the source for nuclear experimentation and testing, Even if a nuclear accident made the area an uninhabitable wasteland for the next 50 years, it would not be a major loss as there is not much of anything around here, except for the beauty of a far different landscape.

On the way from Fort Running Bear to Arco, we stopped at an Overlook for Craters of the Moon.  This gives one an idea of how close the highway is to the Lava Fields.  They are impressive in their scope.

 





 



We travelled back to the Park on Saturday to take the Loop Trail and get a closer look at the terrain.  It is interesting to see how vegetation begins to take over even the most rocky inhospitable terrain. 

Among what appears to be scattered rocks there are "highways" of lava that look like roads.

Some lava cooled in a manner that looks for all the world like "cow pies" and given that Idaho has a lot of land dedicated to cattle ranches, who knows? 

 

Even in Mid-July, there are snow capped mountains in the distance.



 

Throughout the cinder lava fields, there are small patches of white.  They look like patches of snow, but with temperatures in the high 80's, that was not likely.  The contrast with the brown/black lava cinders is eye catching.  What we soon realized is that the white was actually the leaves of the plant, and that the wildflowers themselves were a pale orange.

Lichens are generally the first vegetation to begin growing on rocks.  Below is an example of an orange lichen and the second photo is a very bright yellow, that almost looks like it has been painted on, but it is just another example of a lichen.





Wildflowers are everywhere, attempting to grow in the most desolate of spots. 

 

It seems like everywhere we go we find dead trees.  The stark outline of the branches or the downed trunks provide interesting curves and contrasts with the rocky world around them.  







 

The photo below is snow in an exposed lava tube.  The snow is about 20 feet below the surface.  It seems that someone lost a hat at some recent point in time.  The temperatures in the broken lava tubes stay quite cool to cold throughout the summer months.  

 

Even with the inhospitable nature of the landscape at Craters of the Moon, there is wildlife.  The little guy below didn't hold still very well, so he is slightly blurry.  In addition to him, we saw a Yellow Bellied Marmot and a nuber of birds.  The park is also home to coyotes and foxes, among many other species of animals.  



 





On the drive back to Arco, we took the opportunity to stop and take photos of a couple of the abandoned buildings we had seen on the way out to the Park.

 

The abandoned cabin ablove, sat on the bank of the Lost River. It was sitting in a field of yellow wildflowers (below) and the view from the back was the distant mountains. 





 
A Day-trip to Atomic City and the nearby EBR-1 MuseumWe did not stay long enough for another day-trip to Atomic City and the nearby EBR-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor) Atomic Museum, but everyone recommends this as a desirable outing, not to be missed. Perhaps on another trip, for us.. This entire area has a rich history of (non-nuclear) weapons testing, as well as development of nuclear energy and other projects for peaceful development. Sprawling Idaho National Laboratory Industrial and Research Complexes are visible in the distance, as well as a Radioactive Waste Management Complex. Atomic City is a small town with few remaining buildings, but does feature a district fire station, bar and racing speedway, as well as some photogenic abandoned buildings.
 

The EBR-1 Atomic Museum is said to be fascinating to visit as it was the world’s first atomic reactor to power a city, and it is located nearby Arco. The many displays evoke an earlier time when the prospect of the peaceful use of atomic energy warranted boundless optimism – surprisingly, all in the shadow of the Cold War and the threat of atomic annihilation. Some of the massive equipment on display are experimental atomic jet engines that were originally designed to power huge bombers(that would never fly, along with dreams of interplanetary spacecraft.

Our next post... Star Valley Ranch RV Resort in Thayne WY (July 15 - 29, 2019)